One wireless router connected to another?

Ol!ver · 14 Jul 2007 at 20:25

I've got two wireless routers, one the BE Speedtouch jobbie, the other a Netgear DG834G. I want to connect the Speedtouch to the master socket downstairs, and have the netgear upstairs, so I can connect the PC and X360 to it by ethernet. I want to do it this way because a completely wireless network won't sustain a HD movie, streamed from the PC to the 360.

I'm sure this must be possible, and if it isn't it bloody well should be !

mike1210 · 14 Jul 2007 at 20:32

either normal Cat5e or Homeplug networking kit can do this for you

IIRC best homeplugs are the Devolo Homeplug AV dLAN 200 AV Starter Kit

Homeplug goes over the power adapters in your house and generally has better speed, response and reliability than wireless

Cat5e would be even better but you would have to run network cable to the routers which may or may not be pratical

what is your budget to get this working?

just to add, you would have to disbale DCHP on one of the routers and make sure the IP addresses of the routers are different, i.e 192.168.1.1 and 192.168.1.2

Snapshot · 14 Jul 2007 at 20:44

Mike1210's advice is spot on but you really don't need a router for the second device. A simple switch is all you need and you might make a bit by selling the Netgear then buying a five-port switch.

Ol!ver · 14 Jul 2007 at 20:46

mike1210 said:
either normal Cat5e or Homeplug networking kit can do this for you

IIRC best homeplugs are the Devolo Homeplug AV dLAN 200 AV Starter Kit

Homeplug goes over the power adapters in your house and generally has better speed, response and reliability than wireless

Cat5e would be even better but you would have to run network cable to the routers which may or may not be pratical

what is your budget to get this working?

just to add, you would have to disbale DCHP on one of the routers and make sure the IP addresses of the routers are different, i.e 192.168.1.1 and 192.168.1.2

Would my idea not work then? I've got all the kit for that sat here, meaning it's FREE !

tolien · 14 Jul 2007 at 20:48

Unless you can talk the DG834G into playing wireless client to the Speedtouch, you need something to connect the two - you can't have two ADSL modems connected at once.

Ol!ver · 14 Jul 2007 at 21:03

tolien said:
Unless you can talk the DG834G into playing wireless client to the Speedtouch, you need something to connect the two - you can't have two ADSL modems connected at once.

Bah, was hoping I could set one up to act as an access point.

tolien · 14 Jul 2007 at 21:08

From the looks of the manual, the Netgear doesn't do wireless client mode, so you need to run a cable, use Homeplug, or see if the Speedtouch does it.

Bah, was hoping I could set one up to act as an access point.

They both already are.
You were looking for a wireless client bridged to a wired switch.

Ol!ver · 15 Jul 2007 at 10:22

So, to recap, the best solution (read easiest) is to get the Devolo starter kit, have the router downstairs with wireless turned off and plugged into one of these plugs. Then at the other end have the other router plugged into another plug, with the wireless turned on?

£60 isn't unreasonable methinks.

tolien · 15 Jul 2007 at 11:10

Ol!ver · 15 Jul 2007 at 19:42

I want to test the router downstairs to see if it stops my disconnects and slow speeds. Could I, at least to try, and before getting the plugs, do the following?

Put the dsl router downstairs and the other that's going to act as a switch upstairs like normal, but use an old laptop with ICS set up to connect the two?

Don't want to spend the cash on the plugs if I'm not going to get anything out of it.

tolien · 15 Jul 2007 at 20:08

You don't need ICS (and it wouldn't work as you expected it to anyway) - just connect to one router's wireless and the other router by a switch port and bridge the wireless and wired interfaces on the laptop.

Ol!ver · 15 Jul 2007 at 21:00

tolien said:
You don't need ICS (and it wouldn't work as you expected it to anyway) - just connect to one router's wireless and the other router by a switch port and bridge the wireless and wired interfaces on the laptop.

Trying that now, but as soon as I activate the wired connection on the laptop, the internet connection from the wireless gets thrown off, and I can't ping the wireless router. Using XP Pro.

tolien · 15 Jul 2007 at 21:18

Does the bridge get an IP, subnet mask, DNS IPs et al? Disabled DHCP on the second router?

Ol!ver · 15 Jul 2007 at 21:21

tolien said:
Does the bridge get an IP, subnet mask, DNS IPs et al? Disabled DHCP on the second router?

Set the IP manually, disabled DHCP on the non-internet facing router. The problem is, as soon as the wired connection is enabled the wireless one does nothing. I can't make them work together, even before I bridge them.

Clarkey · 15 Jul 2007 at 21:36

just pick up a wireless access point, configure it in client mode, and connect it to a switch which you can connect your xbox and pc to. This can be done much more cheaply than 60 quid.

Ol!ver · 15 Jul 2007 at 21:41

Clarkey said:
just pick up a wireless access point, configure it in client mode, and connect it to a switch which you can connect your xbox and pc to. This can be done much more cheaply than 60 quid.

Care to recommend some hardware?

tolien · 15 Jul 2007 at 21:42

What if you reduce the priority of the wired interface: CP -> Network Connections > Advanced -> Advanced Settings.

Edit: Linksys WRT54GL will do bridged-wireless client, and doesn't need a switch (since it's got 4 ports already).

Ol!ver · 15 Jul 2007 at 21:47

tolien said:
What if you reduce the priority of the wired interface: CP -> Network Connections > Advanced -> Advanced Settings.

Edit: Linksys WRT54GL will do bridged-wireless client, and doesn't need a switch (since it's got 4 ports already).

Wired was already below wireless, and it doesn't improve anything if I drop it to the bottom.

tolien · 15 Jul 2007 at 21:54

What settings have you entered for both interfaces?

Ol!ver · 15 Jul 2007 at 23:33

tolien said:
What settings have you entered for both interfaces?

Had them both set up to static IPs on the same subnet. With the wireless connection on it's own I can ping the DSL router and get on the net. With the wired one on it's own I can ping that router. Just can't get them both together.